(I think that this letters are as bigger as my happiness :) )
I hope that the pregnancy goes great and the baby, baby boy or baby girl (I wish a baby girl!), will be the healthiest and the prettiest baby in the world.
I'm so happy for this "baby boum" in the Royal Houses.
Cristina, Máxima, Mary, Mette-Marit, Mathilde, Alexia... (did I forget somebody? ) and now Letizia!
Congratulations to all of them!

__________________

__________________"Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future."-Coco Chanel-

The Royal House has announced the pregnancy of the Princess de Asturias, who will give birth to a child in the month of November. The child of Felipe de Borbón and seventh grandchild of the Kings of Spain will be the future Heir to the Throne.

Next day 22nd, the couple, who has already expressed its great happiness, celebrates the first wedding anniversary. Almost a year after their union, the Princes of Asturias announced their paternity through an announcement. In the note of the Royal House, the Kings, Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía, added themselves to the happiness of the couple.

In the last weeks, the rumours bout Letizia Ortiz’s maternity had received more and more force. Just a few months after the wedding, on May 22nd 2004, the speculations on the possible gestation of Letizia Ortiz started to arise and the Prince of Asturias even had to personally deny it in some occasions. Today, La Zarzuela has stopped these rumours, confirming the pregnancy of the Princess de Asturias, who will give "probably" give birth in the same Madrilenian clinic as Infanta Elena, the International Rúber, according to a spokesman of the House of the King. Letizia Ortiz has about three months of pregnancy, term that the Royal House always hopes to announce a gestation.

This announcement is not going to alter the agenda of the Princes of Asturias, who will travel today from Madrid to Palma de Mallorca, to start an official visit to Balears that will last until Friday.

The last public acts attended by the Princes of Asturias before the pregnancy announcement took place on Friday, in Barcelona, where they inaugurated the Hall the Automobile, among other activities. Today, Don Juan Carlos is in this same province, specifically at the circuit of Montmeló, where the GP of Spain in Formula 1 takes place. From there, he has made his first declarations on this pregnancy. The King is "very happy" for this future birth, a joy that is shared by the whole family. The first child of Prince Felipe will be the second in line to the Throne. "It is necessary to treat it just like one more person", said the monarch.

Boy or girl

The first child of the Princes of Asturias will receive the title of Infante or Infanta of Spain, according to the sex. The first-born of Don Felipe and Doña Letizia will maintain, that title, while their parents are the Princes of Asturias. Once they become the King and Queen, the situation will change and the child will inherit the title of XXXVI Prince or Princess of Asturias that goes united to the condition of heir to the Spanish Throne. But with the present Constitution, this will only take place in case the first child of Don Felipe and Doña Letizia is male or, if it is a woman, until a male descendant is born. It will also happen if there is a single daughter. Supposing that only daughters were born, the eldest one would be the heiress. The Magna Carta emphasizes therefore the preference of men to the succession to the Throne; a rule that the president of the Government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has promised to change during the present Legislature, in order to end the discrimination towards women.

All is dependent of the Constitution, until we know if it will be a boy or a girl

"We hope that the Princes will have a girl and another girl, or that they have a boy and then a girl, or that they have just one girl, to avoid problems". If the desires of the vice-president Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega were accomplished, the Government and La Zarzuela would save a great misfortune: that, in the very XXI century, a girl was “discriminated” towards a man, in the succession to the Throne, as it already happened with Don Felipe and his sisters.

Although the Constitution guarantees the equality between men and women, the text emphasizes the preference of men to the succession to the Throne. For that reason, the Prince of Asturias was named the Heir, before his sister, Infanta Elena, who is the first-born. The Executive has showed its intention to undertake four reforms that would affect the Magna Carta: the reform of the Senate, the reform in the denomination of the Independent Communities, the adoption of the European Constitution and the equality in the monarchic succession. Zapatero has expressed his will to ask the Council of State for an opinion that will guide this subject.

Sources of the Ministry of Justice have assured that the reform of the succession is "an absolutely high-priority" subject; it was included in the electoral program of PSOE and was faced as a commitment of the investiture of Zapatero.

In the department of Lopez Aguilar, they have showed the "will to do that transformation", which is probably the one that easier reaches consensus.

In Moncloa nobody wants to speak of terms and dates for the reform, although they have insisted on the intention of Zapatero to undertake it. The main stumbling block could be the fact that, in order to reform the II Title of the Constitution (which is the one that makes reference to the Crown), it is necessary to obtain the support of two thirds of the Congress and the Senate (which is not very difficult), and then to dissolve immediately the Cortes and to summon elections, so that the new Cortes approve the text and later put it under referendum. So, it means that Zapatero will not undertake the reform until the end of the Legislature, or that he will risk his position under the dictation of the ballot boxes again? In Moncloa, there are no commentaries.

Jorge de Esteban, a university professor in Constitutional Right, published an article in Elmundo, where he animated Aznar to undertake it at the end of his mandate, but it never happened. The article was signed just a few days after the Heir announced his commitment to Letizia Ortiz but, in spite of that, nothing has changed the situation.

After the announcement, all national media immediately switched to blanket coverage of the royal pregnancy, with state radio broadcasting full biographies of Felipe and Letizia to the sound of romantic piano music.

Even television coverage of the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, due to take place later on Sunday, was taken over by excitement at the news. Anchors converged on King Juan Carlos when he arrived at the course to ask him about it.

"All the family is very happy, my grandchildren are saying they're going to have a new cousin, so it's all wonderful," the king said.

If the royal couple were to have a girl, she could be the first Spanish princess to have the same right as a boy to accede to the throne, under a plan announced by the Socialist government in March.

While not banning women from the throne as Japan does, Spain gives precedence to the male line. The government is seeking an opinion on a possible change to the rule from the State Council -- a body made up of elder statesmen, former ministers, judges and civil servants.

There is no suggestion that Felipe would step aside in favor of his two older sisters, but a change would affect his children.

Felipe's elder sisters Elena and Cristina have five children between them -- four of them boys -- and one on the way.

At the official announcement of his engagement, Felipe was asked how many children he wanted. "Well, we can't say with complete certainty. The intention is perhaps more than two and fewer than five," he answered, to the apparent astonishment of his fiancee.

In declarations to Telecinco in the circuit of Montmeló, Don Juan Carlos said: "We are all very happy. The children also say that they wait for a new cousin". Asked if this is going to be a special grandchild, the King ansered: "No, it is necessary to treat it just like one more".

The Duke of Palma, Iñaki Urdangarín, described the announcement of the pregnancy of the Princess as "the best news" and that "it could not be better"; he also said that all the family is "very contented and enchanted".

Menchu Alvarez del Valle, paternal grandmother of Letizia Ortiz, said she’s "very contented" with the pregnancy, that she described as "a special and very joyful moment". "I am proud. It’s a very special and very happy moment for me ", she added.

The maternal grandfather of Letizia Ortiz, Francisco Rocasolano Camacho, showed his joy about the pregnancy of his granddaughter and stated that, "as all Spain", the most important thing for him is that "there is a heir", without expressing any preference on a boy or a girl. He explained that he knew about the pregnancy "just as you have", referring to mass media.

I am sooooo happy! Woohoo! It is so wonderful that all the CP's are having their babies at the same time. Hmmm...I wonder will there be some royal mating in the future! That would be nice. But congrats to Felipe and Letizia and the ppl of Espana!!!:)

The pregnancy of the Princess of Asturias, Doña Letizia, has taken place by natural means, without any method of artificial reproduction.

It is expected that the birth will take place at the International Ruber Clinic of Madrid, the same medical centre where Infanta Elena gave birth to her children, Felipe Juan Froilán and Victoria Federica. "It is foreseeable it will happen there", stressed a spokesman of the House of the King, who added that, at the moment, it’s not known if she there will be a boy or a girl, nor the name the Princes of Asturias will give to their first child.

Here's the translation of the official announcement, already posted by Lapopdiva:

Their Royal Highnesses the Princes of Asturias are delighted to announce that they are expecting the birth of their first child for the next month of November. Their Majesties the King and Queen wish, for this reason, to add themselves to the great joy of this happy announcement.